Wiffle Ball Turns Fifty

David N. Mullany of Shelton, Connecticut invented the Wiffle ball fifty years ago. A Wiiffle ball is a variation of a baseball that makes is easy to hit a curveball. According to a recent New Times article, “the inventor after seeing his son, then 12, struggling to throw a curveball, began cutting holes in plastic orbs that were used to package cosmetics… Trying to come up with a design for an easy curveball, Mullany figured out the design that still exists today, eight oblong slots cut in the top of a feathery plastic ball that weighs two-thirds of an ounce, less than a third of the weight of a baseball.” The name Wiffle ball comes from the Mullany kids expression of “you whiffed” for struck out batters. Mullany removed the “h” and trademarked the name Wiffle.